Pension question, France
Can I buy back French pension quarters for work abroad?
To buy back French pension quarters for periods of employment abroad, the buy-back must be requested within 10 years of the last day of the last activity abroad. To buy back periods of salaried activity abroad (or in most French overseas collectivities, or Mayotte), the applicant must have been covered by a compulsory French health insurance scheme for at least 5 years and must request the buyback within 10 years of the last day of the last activity abroad.
What to do next
- Find the last day of your last job abroad.
- Count the years you were covered by French health insurance.
- Run our free check to see which countries may hold a pension for the years abroad.
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Run the free checkQuestions people also ask
Can the ten years be extended?
Buying back French quarters for work done abroad must be requested within ten years from the last day of that activity, which is L'Assurance retraite's own wording, and the page does not state any extension.
- Source: lassuranceretraite.fr and agirc-arrco.fr, read 3 October 2026
Do you give advice on what to do?
No. We identify where a pension is likely held and the official route to it, and we name each source with the date we read it. We do not give financial, tax or legal advice.